The hardest part of creating an opera is working out what sound world it lives in. i try to terrify myself! jake heggie

Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMM902752 49:20 mins Those of us lucky, as I was at both their Ragged Music Festival and

Piano Trios; Piano Quintet, Op. 57* *Julia Fischer (violin),*Nils Mönkemeyer (viola); Oliver Schnyder Trio Prospero PROSP0035 76:52 mins Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet explores a bewildering variety of

Sonatas Nos 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6; Sonata violino solo representativa in A major Rachel Podger (violin); Brecon Baroque Channel Classics CCS48525 70:08 mins No Arts Council funding was available to rescue

Where would movies be without music? Sure, images, story and dialogue are all important. But cinematic soundtracks provide that human connection – the key to character motivation and emotional truth.

When you’re speaking to someone devastatingly fluent in four tongues (Italian, German, French and English) the subject of language naturally leads to some curiosity. Especially from a somewhat green-e

New Generation Publishing 379pp (hb) £18.99 The ambition of Will Fraser’s debut novel is never in doubt. Weaving together sometimes self-conscious observations about the nature of music with slow-burn